The Stallion Page 3

P LANO W EST W ILL B E VASTLY OVERCROWDED … C ARA M ENDELSOHN -PTSAP RESIDENT

Last year, we heard directly from Superintendent Doug Otto at the Shepton and Renner PTA meetings that the lkjlkjlkjlkklllllllllllllkjljlkjlljlk-changes to the district’s feeder alignment would not affect West Plano. But when the time came for the vote, the Planojljljjljljlkjljkkkkkkkkkkkkkk ISD trustees voted to move all Jasper High School students into Plano West with no changes on which schools feedkkkkkkkkklkjljjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj into Jasper. The result is a disaster for all of West Plano’s students, unless we act now!

If you are a parent of students in middle or elementary school in the West Cluster or a 9th grader at Shepton or Jasper, this decision will affect you most. (Renner, Frankford, Robinson, Barksdale, Brinker, Centennial, Huffman, Daffron, Gulledge, Haun, Hightower, Mitchell, Haggar & Jackson). If you are a homeowner in these West Plano attendance boundaries, this will be a lasting issue for you, as home values decrease because families choose other school districts that would bet- ter suit their children’s needs. Would you knowingly choose to live where your children would attend a vastly overcrowded school?

Please read below to understand the issue and what you can do to: 1. Save your student from being part of the largest high school graduating class in the history of Texas, 2. Stop the trustees from implementing a plan that does not efficiently use our tax dollars and 3. Protect your property value!

The current enrollment at Plano West is 2036 and is destined to increase 80% for a total of up to 3600 students – UNLESS WE ACT TO SAVE PLANO WEST FROM HAVING THE LARGEST GRADUATING CLASS IN THE HISTORY OF PLANO ISD AND IN THE STATE OF TEXAS!!!

2010-11 2013-14 (projected) Increase Plano West 2036 3674 80%

Starting in 2011-12, each PISD senior high school will have two high schools that feed to it. They are: PWSH = Shepton & Jasper; PSHS= Clark & Vines; PESH= Williams & McMillen

CURRENT ENROLLMENT 2010-11 Senior High High Schools Plano West 2036 Shepton 1618 Jasper 2056

Plano Senior 2668 Clark 1334 Vines 1323

Plano East 2904 Williams 2085 McMillen not open yet

(Continued on page 10) Page 10 November/December 2010

(Continued from page 3) jjjjjjjjjjljljljljljljlkjjl Projected ENROLLMENT 2013-14 These numbers use the exact same enrollment of our current students in 9-10, and just move them forward two grades into 11-12. These numbers assume no students transfer to other PISD senior high schools, no students leave or enter the district and

Senior High Plano West 3674 (44% of all PISD senior high students) Plano Senior 2657 (31% of all PISD senior high students) Plano East 2085 (25% of all PISD senior high students)

Other Facts To Know: This plan would create the largest graduating class from one school in the history of Texas (approximately 1800 students annually from PWSH). The capacity for Plano West was estimated at 2,000 for the current type of space usage, or 2,600 for a usage that includes teachers sharing classrooms (projected enrollment is 3,674!!). Plano Senior and Plano East Senior High Schools will each retain unused capacity for additional students with regular space usage. The plan to “expand” Plano West to accommodate 1,600 new students includes adding just 9 classrooms and 4 sci- ence labs. Why are we spending tax dollars from our bond to add to a school when there is existing capacity avail- able at the other senior high schools? In addition, the usage in this plan does not allow teachers to have their own classrooms. Teachers will be required to move their teaching materials from class to class without a permanent classroom of their own so that all classrooms are utilized 7 periods a day. Plano West Senior High school is the only school that will have that space usage. Enrollment in PISD senior high schools is up nearly 20% in the last 9 years. Plano West has grown 17% in the last 9 years, growing every year. Plano West Senior High was originally built as a middle school. It was converted to a high school before it opened, but retained narrower hallways and fewer features than other high schools. It was later converted to a senior high campus but remains the smallest of the three senior highs by far when calculating functional square footage, has the smallest capacity and is land-locked on all sides. Today, the hallways are completely packed with the current enrollment. It is impossible to imagine an additional 1,800 students at each passing period flowing through the halls. Some district personnel and trustees may talk about the raw square footage of the three high schools. Plano East Senior High - 478,087, Plano Senior High School - 422,864 plus an addition currently under construction, Plano West Senior High - 426,174. Remember Plano West Senior High was built as a middle school with the goal of keep- ing all students contained in a structure. The other senior highs were constructed more like a junior college, with buildings based on subjects and students crossing the campus outside to get between the buildings. The raw square footage of Plano West’s building includes all the additional (narrow) hallways, resulting in much less “functional” square footage than the other campuses. There are students at Plano West today who do not have a locker because the facility is not suited for the current student enrollment - what will happen when an additional 1800 students enroll? When the feeder alignment committee evaluated plans to align the schools in the central and west clusters, the plan that was ultimately selected by the school board, had previously been rejected by 100% of the alignment com- mittee. In fact, at one of the feeder alignment committee meetings, the principal of Plano West urged the commit- tee to put the plan being rejected on the website prior to the trustee vote for everyone to lkllkkkkkkljljljljlkjjlkkkjjjjjjj (Continued on page 11) The Stallion Page 11

see how obvious it was that it was an unworkable solution. That is the plan the trustees voted for unanimously with no public discussion. District officials and school board members say “we are just swapping Plano East Senior High and Plano West Sen- ior High” and talk about the two years it was most crowded at Plano Senior. As was noted in the numbers given above, Plano West will be significantly larger than any high school in the history of PISD. There was an enrollment of 3,000 students at Plano Senior the year before Plano East opened, which went down to 2,300 when PESH opened. In the year before Plano West was opened, Plano Senior had an enrollment of 3,200, which went down to 1700 when PWSH opened. The current plan is to have 3600 students at PWSH with NO RELIEF for enrollment!!!! 3,600 students, which translates to 1,800 in a graduating class, is comparable in size to many colleges. The size of graduating classes for surrounding districts are: Pearce High School in Richardson - 500; Richardson High School in Richardson - 525; Centennial High School in Frisco - 300; McKinney Boyd in McKinney - 500; Coppell High School in Coppell - 700; Carroll Senior High School in Southlake – 600; Lewisville High School in Lewisville – 755; Wylie High School in Wylie – 600; Allen High School in Allen - 1,200 Having twice as many students in the school means everything is twice as competitive, already a big issue at Plano West Senior High. No matter how you slice it, there will still be only a limited number of spots on the athletic teams, music ensembles, theater performances and leadership positions for clubs. Having a grade that is the larg- est in Texas will make it very tough to develop a competitive resume for college admissions and provide our stu- dents with the full high school experience for which Plano ISD has been known. The enrollment at West Cluster middle schools is the largest (by far) in the district, all feeding to large high schools and senior high school! Below are the current enrollment figures for our PISD middle schools and the per- cent of change they have had in the last 9 years:

East Cluster Central Cluster West Cluster Armstrong – 758 students (down 41%) Haggard – 897 students Renner – 1319 students (up 19%)

Bowman – 766 students (down 25%) Wilson – 954 students (down 10%) Frankford – 1193 students (up 6%)

Murphy – 954 students Carpenter – 868 students (down 15%) Robinson – 1047 students (unchanged) **was not open 9 years ago **moving from East Cluster to Central Rice – 1167 students (up 17%) Cluster effective 2012 Otto – 836 students **moving from Central Cluster to West **just opened this year Hendrick – 880 students (unchanged) Cluster effective 2012 **moving from East Cluster to Central Cluster effective 2012

Schimelpfenig – 1002 students (down 5%) **these students can pick Central or West

Please notice that the middle schools that are increasing in size are in West Plano. Likewise, the enrollment for Shep- ton is up 15% and Jasper is up 21% over that same time period. DO NOT LET THE SCHOOL DISTRICT SAY WEST PLANO IS BUILT OUT AND NOT GROWING!!! We have many, many apart- ments that feed into West Plano schools (from the Shops of Legacy, to large stretches along Spring Creek, to Frank- ford/Tollway and McCallum/Coit area) and they are increasingly being occupied by families.

What Is The Solution? Here are 3 Ideas: 1) Realign the schools that feed to Jasper to provide a balanced enrollment at all three senior highs. It is not an effi- jjljlj (Continued on page 12) Page 12 November/December 2010

cient use of our resources to have one school over capacity (Plano West Senior High) and one school well under capacity (Plano East Senior High). 2) Locate the Academy currently being considered by PISD in West Plano to draw enrollment out of Plano West. The project-based curriculum being discussed does not appear to be of interest to the West Plano parents or students. Ask for a curriculum and theme of interest to you. One possibility I hear repeatedly is to open an elite school for the academically gifted. It would serve needs not being met for our top students, as evidenced by the large TAMS (Texas Academy of Math and Science – a program for gifted high school students at the University of North Texas) enrollment and the overwhelming curricular activities many students participate in outside of school. Today, our highest achieving students don’t have the ability to take any math classes beyond AP Calculus I, but some students finish this curriculum by 9th grade. It would draw the attention of parents and elite colleges across the nation and become a competitive alternative for students. Offer enrollment to West Plano feeder schools first to help solve the enrollment disparity. If the district and board remain focused on Williams High School in East Plano as the loca- tion for the Academy, ask for two Academies to open simultaneously with themes that are of interest to the cluster in which they are located. The goal is not necessarily to have an Academy for your child to attend, but an option attractive to enough parents and students that it draws attendance away from Plano West Senior High. 3) There are 13 middle schools that feed to 6 high schools. If one middle school were closed, it would allow a natu- rally balanced enrollment of 2 middle schools feeding into each high school. Currently, there are several middle schools under 900 students. The closed school could serve as a location for the proposed Academy. As a note, Haggard is located in the middle of Plano. It shares land with Plano Senior High School and if the Academy was lo- cated there, students could access extra-curricular activities at PSHS by just walking across the field.

How Can We Get This Situation Changed Now? 1) Contact Dr. Otto and the school board TODAY. Respectfully request them to address this issue! Give your reason why it should be looked at and your idea for a solution. If you choose to write an email, two or three sentences are plenty, but you can write as much as you want. Sign your name and home address. Getting many emails captures their attention!!! Phone calls should be short and polite. Share this information with your friends and neighbors. a. Email addresses: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] b. Phone numbers: Dr. Otto – 469.752.8122, Skip Jenkins – 469.752.8282, Brad Shanklin – 469.752.8993, Missy Bender – 469.752.8264, Marilyn Hinton – 469.752.8283, Nancy Humphrey – 469.752.8284, Carrolyn Moebius – 469.752.8278, Tammy Richards – 469.752.8917 c. Fax number: 469.752.8068, Attn: Dr. Otto & PISD School Board 2) Attend a school board meeting, take a speaker card and for 1-3 minutes, let them know if you have a concern, what you think is the problem and how it should be fixed. The next school board meetings are December 7 th and January 18 th. The meetings are at the PISD Admin building, 2700 W. 15th Street, and start at 7 pm. 3) Pay attention and VOTE in the next school board election. There are two places up for election this May. One is for the spot currently occupied by Skip Jenkins, Board President and the other by Brad Shanklin, Board Vice President. Both voted for this plan and allowed only Schimelpfenig Middle School the freedom to choose which high school they will attend. Both of them live in the Schimelpfenig attendance zone.

Note:  All data presented in this article was provided by Plano ISD either under the Freedom of Information Act or to the PISD 2009 Feeder Alignment Committee.  This editorial is not intended to reflect the views of PISD, nor its administration & staff.  Cara Mendelsohn is President of Shepton PTSA, Immediate Past-President of the Plano ISD Council of PTAs, and alakjdlfjlkajlfjlkasjdflkjlkasjljformer member of the PISD 2009 Feeder Alignment Committee. She can be contacted at [email protected]. lkkjlkjlkjljljljjljljlkkkkkkkkkk kkkkkkkkkkkkfkllkjlk